Board affirms North Beach library EIR, approves rezoning and street vacation as amended

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on June 7 affirmed the Planning Commission’s certification of the final environmental impact report for the North Beach Branch Library and Joe DiMaggio Playground master plan and approved related zoning and street‑vacation measures, moving the project toward construction after years of public review and appeals.

Supervisor Carmen Chu made the motion to affirm the EIR; the board voted to deny the appeal and to approve the rezoning of 701 Lombard Street and the one‑block closure of Mason Street (between Lombard and Columbus) as amended. The board also continued two related items that require additional notice and will return to the board for final action.

The project will replace the existing 1959 North Beach branch with a new, larger library located at 701 Lombard and expand and reconfigure the adjacent Joe DiMaggio playground. Library and Recreation and Park Department officials told the board the new plan increases library program space, adds separate areas for adults, teens and children, improves accessibility and seismic safety, and creates roughly 12,000 square feet of net new open space in one of the city’s densest neighborhoods.

Supporters, including library officials, Rec and Park staff and neighborhood parents, told supervisors the current library is seismically unsafe and inaccessible and that the master plan responds to long‑standing community requests for more space and safer connections between the library and playground. Opponents urged the board to reconsider demolition of the existing library building, arguing it is an eligible historic resource and that alternatives that preserve the building were not adequately analyzed. Appellants also urged the board to treat the triangular lot at 701 Lombard as permanent open space; supporters said the project provides more usable open space overall.

Planning staff and the city attorney said the EIR examined a thorough range of alternatives and mitigation measures and that the discretionary changes made to the project during the review did not trigger CEQA recirculation. Following public testimony that spanned hours, the board voted to uphold the EIR and approved the rezoning and street vacation ordinances on first reading with amendments requiring additional reporting back to the board on transit and consolidation plans. The board continued two related items to allow additional notice and review.

What happens next: the project will move into permitting and project‑level design stages; the board required the Rec and Park and Real Estate departments to provide follow‑up reports on facility consolidation and transit mitigation plans as part of the adopted amendments.